The Unofficial Edition of Nowhere Left to Run
by Backinwonderland
Summary: Everyone has seen McFly's trailer for their short film 'Nowhere Left to Run.' This is just a simple  but VERY long  one-shot describing the could-be plot of that movie. Enjoy!


**This is an unofficial version of Nowhere Left To Run. It is TOTALLY made up by me and has absolutely no credible affiliation with McFly. I just watched the trailer and decided to write down what I thought it could be about! It's VERY long and took up 36 pages on word. I suggest you go to the bathroom, get a cup of tea, maybe a cookie or two, and enjoy. **

The road was long, thin, and desolate. On either side of the graying pavement, trees stretched like skyscrapers into the foggy air and cast long, eerie shadows along the ground. The only car visible for miles was a small, silver Honda that's gas gauge was teetering nervously towards the E line.

"I told you we should've refilled back in Monmouth," an irritable voice said from the passenger's seat as the car shot forward. The driver's hands tightened around the steering wheel turning his knuckles white.

"Yeah, well, we _could _have if Dougie didn't piss off the guy working there," the diver replied icily as his eyes glared at one of the back passengers through the rear-view mirror.

"You think that was _my _fault? Danny was the one who thought it'd be funny to mess with him!" Dougie replied, leaning forward so he could glare at Danny who still sat angrily in the passenger's seat.

"Will you all shut _up_? We'll find a station! Relax!" The man sitting next to Dougie said, trying to quiet his friends and stop the fight that could happen any second.

Normally the four of them got along very well; they rarely ever fought. But when situations became dire their true colors would come out. They were lost, hungry, and nervous about running out of gas. Anyone in their situation would be slightly aggravated.

"Harry's right…" the driver sighed after a moment of silence. "Let's figure out where we are and find a gas station."

They drove on while scanning their surroundings for some sign of civilization. None of them mentioned their anxiety as mile after mile the trees around them got thicker and the road in front of them grew darker.

"Maybe we should turn around? We could try to find a station in the other direction…" Dougie's voice finally broke the strangled silence as he shifted nervously in his seat. No one answered him. "Tom?" He spoke to the driver, needing someone to answer.

"We don't have enough gas to go all the way back…" Tom trailed off as if he was confessing to a crime.

"Well… what are we supposed to do?" Danny asked, looking around at his three friends for some sort of answer.

"We'll just have to keep driving until we run out of gas. Then we'll have to call a tow truck to come and get us or something," Harry responded first in a pessimistic tone.

"But we don't know where we _are_. How would they be able to find us?" Dougie asked desperately. Situations like this always took their toll on him. He was usually the one scared the easiest out of their little group.

"I don't… maybe they can trace our call or something…" Tom was grasping at strings as he ran one hand through his short blonde hair. This was exactly what they _didn't _need.

On a normal day the four men in the car were known as Tom, Danny, Dougie and Harry. But when they were each given a musical instrument they became the all-famous pop/rock band, McFly. The guys were on their way to perform a show in a small town in the Black Mountains, and were convinced they'd be able to get there themselves.

How wrong they were…

"I hope we get there in time…" Danny sighed as their car continued to race on.

"Of course we'll get there in time. It's tomorrow night and we can't be that far off," Harry responded as he looked out the window at the familiar scenery. The trees had grown so thickly around them that he couldn't see more than a few feet into the woods and everything looked like a blur of dark brown and black.

"Look!" Dougie suddenly yelled as he slapped Harry's arm in excitement. The boys all looked in the direction he was shouting as they tried to identify what exactly had him so worked up.

About a hundred feet in the distance, nearly hidden entirely from view by a canopy of overgrowth, was a very small, run-down wooden shack. The guys all let out cheers of relief as noticed the small hut, suddenly ten-times more hopeful.

Tom pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road and turned the engine off. They had less than three miles worth of gas left in the tank.

Together the guys walked towards the shack, each with a small look of worry on their face. Did anyone even live there? It looked like it'd been abandoned for years.

But they still had to try.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Danny called loudly as they stood outside the front door. There were cracks in the walls giving them a clear view inside the small home. There was a small light on in there somewhere.

There was silence as Danny's words hung in the air. Then, after what felt like several minutes, they heard the unmistakable sound of shoes scuffling across a hollow floor. Without even meaning to they all seemed to hold their breath as they waited for whatever was on the other side to reveal itself.

The door slowly pulled back with a loud groan to expose a very old and very sickly looking man. He squinted out at them through small, beady eyes and blinked a few times as if he hadn't looked into the sun for a long time.

"Erm… hello," Tom smiled politely at the man. "We're lost and we're almost out of gas. Do you know if there's a station near here where we can refuel?" He spoke slowly and loudly, hoping the man would be able to understand.

"Oh no, no. No gas near here, I'm afraid," the man spoke as he shook his head vigorously. "No gas for twenty miles."

The guys let out a groan in unison. There was no way they'd be able to make it twenty miles.

"I'll call a tow truck," Harry mumbled as he pulled out his phone to make the call only to realize he had no service. He swore loudly before he could catch himself. He quickly apologized to the old man, who shook it off as if it was nothing.

"You'll not get any reception for your phones, neither. Sorry lads," the man said while nodding to the phone in Harry's hand as if he knew the problem.

"Do _you _have a phone we could borrow?" Tom asked, trying to look past the man and into his little shack.

"No, never got a phone. But I'll tell you what…" The old man's eyes flickered around as if to check and make sure they were the only ones there, which was a bit pointless seeing as they were in the most unpopulated part of England.

The boys leaned closer, eager for some kind of helpful news. The man's eyes danced around for a couple more seconds before he refocused.

"If you drive a half mile down, you'll come to a fork in the road. Take the left fork and follow it up the hill. Once you reach the top, which is only about another mile, there'll be a big castle. See if the girls up there can help you," he instructed in a whisper. Tom was nodding vigorously, repeating the instructions over in his mind while his friends breathed a sigh of relief. Finally someone might be able to help them out.

"Girls?" Danny whispered to Dougie as they made their way back to their car, leaving the old man in his little shack.

"They're probably a bunch of grannies. You know how geezers can be," Dougie replied with a shrug as he slid into the back of the car beside Harry.

Tom started the car again and they waved to the old man as they passed. He stood watching them from his doorway until they were out of sight.

"To think… _twenty miles _till the next gas station. Who would want to _live _all the way out here?" Danny asked as their car filled with a new sense of hope. Their pessimistic attitudes really seemed to be outweighed at the thought of reaching the castle.

They drove down the road and soon enough a fork appeared just like the old man said it would. Tom turned left and the car started to climb the mountain.

The slope was steep. It was amazing the car was able to make it up at such a tantalizing angle. The boys didn't move in their seats, afraid that if they even jostled the car a tiny bit they would go crashing back down to earth.

They arrived at the peak of the climb a few minutes later and they stared wide-eyed at the image before them. An old Victorian castle with towers and turrets loomed over them with vast amounts of ivy anchoring it to the earth. Tom parked the car right in front of the entry way and they all sat and stared for a few moments.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here for years," Dougie finally commented as he noticed the severely over grown weeds and moss that lived in the front garden.

"Maybe they only stay for the summer?" Tom suggested weakly as he unlocked the doors and exited the car. "Can't wait around forever, can we?" He added, trying to smile.

Together they walked towards the door, feeling some strength in their numbers. The climbed a short set of hard stone stairs that crumbled slightly under their weight. Harry was the one who used the large lion-head knocker to announce their presence.

"What if no one's here?" Danny asked after several moments of silence.

"Knock again."

They did and were answered with nothing. The boys started fidgeting awkwardly on the steps.

"You know… if no ones home…" Harry began as he tried turning the large rusty doorknob. The metal frame creaked under the force of his push and the door swung open to reveal a pitched black room.

"Should we go in?" Dougie asked as he moved to the back of the group with Tom.

"Someone find a light," Tom instructed as he peered over Harry's shoulder into the unseen room. Harry groped around the inside of the doorframe and after a few seconds of searching, he found a light switch.

The sight before them was something out of a medieval-castle history museum pamphlet. The room was the size of an arena, both in width and height. The floor was made out of a solid black and red marbled stone and the walls were built of the same stone blocks the outside of the castle was made out of. The furniture looked uncomfortable to sit on and the great black crystal chandelier that hung over their heads looked larger than their car.

"So… should we go in?" Dougie asked again as they all continued to stare.

"I suppose so…" Harry trailed off as he led the way in. The rest of the guys followed closely behind him, too uneasy to stay behind and too curious not to explore.

"Um… _hello_!" Harry called loudly as they made their way into the room. Out of common courtesy Tom closed the large door behind them.

There was no answer to Harry's reverberating call. The guys shrugged as they all suddenly became less uncomfortable. Danny even risked sitting on one of the extremely overstuffed red chairs.

"Do you think they'll have a phone somewhere?" Tom asked as they looked around.

"There's electricity, so they might," Danny replied as he craned his neck to see more of the room. "I don't think there's one in here though."

"We can try the rest of the place, I guess. It's pretty large though…" Harry commented as he picked up a glass dish from a wooden table. He turned it over in his hands a few times before placing it back down where he'd found it.

"Well let's go have a look," Tom sighed, gesturing for his friends to lead the way through a set of large wooden doors in front of them. Harry, ever the adventurer, took the lead once again.

The doors led into a dimly lit corridor. Windows lined the hallway but were covered in so much dust and soot that sunlight could barely leak in. Everything was silent apart from their feet hitting the stone cold floor as they searched their surroundings, trying to locate something from this century.

At the end of the corridor there was a large octagon of closed wooden doors. The boys sighed as they began trying each one.

The first door opened up easily as Dougie took the handle and wrenched it back. It was too dark to see anything and the boys secretly dubbed Harry the one to search for a light. Once he found it the room illuminated before them with another black chandelier.

"That is _awesome_," Tom breathed quietly as they all looked on. The room before them was definitely spooky looking, but it had a sort of modern aura about it that sucked them in.

The room, in all intents and purposes, was a bar. There was a long wooden counter that stretched all the way across the back wall and was stocked with sorts of wine and alcohol the boys had never even _heard _of before. Long golden poles were placed sporadically around the room like support beams and stretched all the way from the black tiled floor to the dark ceiling.

"This room isn't dusty," Harry noticed as he slowly entered the doorway and ran his finger along one the bar.

"Maybe people _do _live here," Danny added as he followed Harry and looked behind the bar. "They're stocked _well_!"

"Don't steal anything. Who knows who these people are? They'll probably throw us in jail as soon as they find out we've been here," Tom chuckled lightly as Danny grumbled and walked away from the alcohol.

"There's no phone in here," Harry commented a few seconds later after he finished his search.

"Let's keep going then," Dougie spoke quickly, trying to usher his friends out of the room so they could continue with their little exploration. Dougie had always had a tendency to spook easily. He didn't like being in strange places; they gave him goose bumps. He wanted to be out of the castle as fast as possible.

The boys followed Dougie back into the octagon of doors and they tried the second one to their left.

"It's just a staircase," Tom commented as he peaked his head in, trying to see what was at the top of the stairs.

"Should we go up? Maybe there's a phone there," Danny shoved his way next to Tom and they both craned their necks to look up the spiral of stairs.

"Let's check the other rooms down here first…" Harry finally spoke as they deliberated climbing the stone steps. None of them said it aloud but for some reason they all felt a bit uneasy about going too far into the massive mansion. What if someone _was _home? How could they explain themselves?

They continued checking the rooms around them in search of a phone. They found a massive closet the size of their bedrooms, a bathroom with a separate bathtub and shower, a kitchen large enough to feed an army (though it looked like it hadn't been used in _years_), and a small sitting room with a fire place that still had ashes left inside.

None of the rooms had phones.

"What do these people do? Take great baths, never eat, burn fires, and never use a phone? How do they survive?" Harry was growing frustrated as he tried to open the last door but it was locked. He tried peeking through the keyhole to see if anything was visible but all he could see was a set of stone cold descending stairs. "Oh great. _And _there's a creepy basement. Or dungeons, seeing as this is a freaking castle."

"Let's just try upstairs before we start flipping out…" Tom said calmly, hoping to bring the peace back to the group. From the look on Dougie's face he could tell they were all on the road to cracking under the pressure.

The guys silently listened to Tom and one by one they climbed the spiraling stone staircase up to the second floor. Their shoes made soft padding noises as they walked and the air grew heavier, like the unseen dust particles were doubling in quantity as they went higher. Tom coughed, unable to stop himself.

When they reached the landing, Harry turned on the light.

They were standing in a long hallway that seemed to stretch infinitely in both directions. The boys looked back and forth as desperation seemed to heighten among them.

"There's no way we can check all these rooms…" Dougie nearly squeaked out. "How are we going to get to our gig? Dude this is ridiculous!" He was running his hands through his hair and Harry slung an arm around the young bassist's shoulders, trying to calm him down.

"Doug, try to relax, okay? We'll figure it out. For now we're just going to have to keep looking for a phone. Let's split into groups of two and go both ways. That way we'll cover more ground faster," Harry was talking to the group now.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Doug, want to go with me?" Tom asked almost desperately as he started down the right side of the corridor. Dougie followed behind him, knowing fully well that Tom was probably just as nervous and scared and annoyed as he was, and for some reason that comforted Dougie.

Harry and Danny took off in the other direction and slowly, as they continued to check doors and rooms, they grew further and further apart until they couldn't even see the other group anymore.

"Dude, check _this _room out!" Dougie gasped as he pulled a door open expecting to find yet anotherbedchamber.

He was completely wrong.

"What is it? Oh, wow," Tom appeared over Dougie's shoulder and they both looked in awe at the room before them. It was an _enormous _work out room with some equipment neither of them had even seen before.

"These people really like to stay fit…" Tom mumbled as they both walked through the room, testing some of the machines.

"This place just might make up for the lack of phones in this castle," Dougie commented offhandedly as he laid down on the bench press.

"Yeah, well, don't fool around too much. If we break anything we'll probably have to sell our houses just to pay for it," Tom warned as he quickly surveyed the room. "And, of course, there's no phone. Let's keep going."

They left the room but Dougie made sure to leave the door open so he could find it again. You know… just in case.

Another twenty minutes later and they finally reached the end of the hall without seeing a single telephone. The shook their heads as they closed the last door as depression over took them.

"Seriously, Tom, this is nuts. Are we going to have to walk to the gig? We'll never get there in time. How are we supposed to get out of here?" Dougie asked desperately as they slowly walked back through the corridor.

"I don't know, Doug… but we've got to stay positive, okay? It's not like we'll be stuck here forever…" he trailed off, though neither of the boys felt any better.

They continued to walk down the corridor until they finally ran into Harry and Danny again, hoping that maybe their two friends had better luck than they did.

"Nothing. Not a single thing here can help us get back to civilization. Not even a freaking _bike_," Harry explained as they descended the stairs to the main floor. Night had fallen and the small rays of sunlight that had been leaking through the windows had vanished. Harry, of course, searched for a light switch and they flickered to life.

"We did find an attic though. No phone, obviously, but there were a bunch of old things probably worth millions of pounds," Danny added conversationally. He didn't sound remotely upset that they were totally stranded.

Without having anywhere else to go, the boys reentered the bar room and took seats along the counter. Danny, being the avid drink connoisseur the he was, ended up behind the bar pouring drinks.

"We really shouldn't be doing this," Tom sighed as he accepted his curiously clean cup.

"Don't be such a worrier. I think, after _our _day, we deserve it," Danny replied as he handed glasses to Harry and Dougie, while keeping the last one for himself. "Cheers!" He grinned, holding his cup out for all of them to clink.

They each brought their glasses back and took a careful, testing sip. It felt like they were drinking liquid fire; a _delicious _liquid fire.

"That's _strong_," Dougie commented after a small cough.

"Yeah, it is," Danny replied with wide eyes as he took another sip.

"It should be. It's from the late 1800's."

They boys froze with their glasses pressed against their lips as their hearts stopped out of legitimate fear. They were caught.

They all turned to face the door with wide, terrified eyes. They stared in completely amazement as a group of women (_girls_, really) stared back at them, each as astonishingly beautiful as the next.

The girl in front had a strong, lean body. Her jaw was set, challenging them carefully, but her eyes were open with excitement. Her long brown hair fell in waves around her small, skintight black dress and she stared at them through thick dark lashes.

"We're sorry… we didn't…" Tom tried to speak but words weren't coherently running through his mind. How many girls were there? Seven? Eight?

And all of them stared at the boys with the same black eyes.

"No need to apologize. We're only curious about who you are… and what brought you here…" The girl in front spoke through perfectly defined red lips. It had been her who had first spoken about the wine.

"We…" Tom tried again, but he was still having trouble forming sentences.

"Our car. It needs more gas," Harry came to his rescue, staring at the girls with some sort of reverence.

"And you thought that our home was a petrol station?" A small blonde girl right behind the leader spoke up with a curious tone.

"No, not at all," Harry shook his head, looking away to collect his thoughts. "We heard from the old man… the one who lives in a shack at the bottom of the hill… that you might have a phone or something… something that could help us out." Harry was much better at forming understandable statements when he didn't look at the mysteriously beautiful girls in the doorway.

"The old man? He sent you here?" The girl in front asked as one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows lifted inquisitively.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Well, we have no phone for you to use. We have no need for that sort of thing here," the leader entered the room, walking towards the boys almost like a wild cat would hunt down it's prey.

The boys seemed to swallow nervously at the same time.

"We can, however, help you with your fuel problem. But we will have to wait until tomorrow," the girl spoke in a warm, hypnotic voice. The boys were so overcome by her presence that it took a few seconds for her words to sink in.

"Tomorrow? Why?" Danny asked with a small frown.

"These woods are dark, and not just from the lack of light. There is something hidden in them. Something dangerous. We are not to go into the woods alone," the girl finally stopped in front of the boys, looking them each in the eye carefully. Dougie blushed and looked away, unable to hold the stare. Danny grinned in excitement, probably running through different dirty scenarios in his mind. Tom smiled politely, feeling as if she was reading his thoughts. And Harry… Harry just stared back, unable to look away.

She smiled a close-lipped grin at him and nodded, like she'd been appraising them each individually.

"There's something in the woods?" Dougie finally spoke up, trying not to sound as terrified as he truly was.

"Oh yes. Something very real and very horrifying," she grinned at Dougie, sending a shiver down his spine. "The people who have gone into the woods at night have never returned. Ever."

The rest of the girls in the door way were smiling, as if they were all part of some secret inside joke. Harry wanted to roll his eyes, knowing fully well that the girls were just playing with them. They probably just wanted to get the boys back for breaking into their home.

"So you all must spend the night here, to be safe. Tomorrow we'll go to the town and get more fuel for your car," the girl said the line with such authority that the boys just nodded in agreement.

"What's your name?" Dougie asked before he could stop himself.

"Well, seeing as you four broke into _our _home, shouldn't you tell us your names first?" The girl asked him, smiling slightly.

He blushed madly and looked away.

"Yeah, sorry," Tom quickly took over. "He's Dougie, and I'm Tom. He's Danny," Tom pointed over his shoulder to where Danny was still standing behind the bar. "And that's Harry." He pointed to Harry sitting on the stool beside him. The girl looked at each of them as they were introduced and mouthed their names as if committing them to her memory.

There was something off about her, but none of the boys could pinpoint exactly what it was. She looked young, maybe twenty-one or twenty-two years old, but the way she was talking, walking, and acting made her seem much older; she was wise beyond her years. And it seemed like her wisdom wasn't just limited to intellect. It felt like she knew everything about anything. Even who they were, why they were there, and what they were thinking.

But obviously, that couldn't be possible.

"Well Dougie, Tom, Danny, and Harry, my name is Camira." She said her name with a small purr on the end, accenting it perfectly. The boys had never heard anything so beautiful before.

Until the other girls started speaking up, that is.

"And I'm Emery," the little blonde girl who had spoken once piped up.

"I'm Rose," said a shorter, yet still absolutely stunning, girl with a short pixie hair cut.

"My name is Eliza," the girl behind Emery said with an extremely curious glance inside the room.

"And I am Annabelle, but you can just call me Belle," the tallest girl of the group spoke from above her friends.

"I'm Liron, but you can just call me Li." Li was small, beautiful, and Asian. She was standing beside Belle, almost like she was hoping the girl would protect her.

"And that's Claire," Camira spoke for the last girl, who looked younger than the rest. She might've only been nineteen or so. The boys looked confused at Claire's lack of vocals so Camira added on, "She was born without a voice box."

"Oh… do you all go to school together or something?" Danny asked casually, probably trying to figure out why seven drop-dead gorgeous ladies would hideout in the mountains away from the rest of the world.

"Sure, something like that," Camira replied off handedly as she made her way behind the bar and took the alcohol bottle from Danny's hand. He stared at her in amazement as she leaned over and refilled all of their glasses, toasting their arrival.

The other girls flowed into the room and spread themselves out among the guys. Camira stayed beside Danny, running her fingers _very _suggestively down the front of his shirt while Eliza made her way over to Dougie and was examining his shoulder tattoo (somehow his shirt had come completely off) with a keen interest. Claire had silently made her way to Tom, looking at him with large eyes that could practically speak entire conversations for her. He, obviously, was doing most of the talking but they managed to communicate really well.

Harry, to his and the rest of his band mate's complete shock, was surrounded by the four other girls. One of them would constantly be running their fingers over his shoulder blades or down the buttons of his shirt. He felt drunk on just the mere attention alone. There had been times in his past where a _threesome _might've been possible… but never had he ever considered having four girls flaunting over him at once.

The whole thing was very odd though. Despite how relaxed and welcomed the girls tried to make the guys feel, they all felt as if the entire scene had been planned ahead of time. Especially as the four girls around Harry (Emery, Belle, Li, and Rose) whispered strange things to one another as they ran their fingers through his hair or up his arms or in his lap.

"Yes… very fine, indeed…." Rose had said.

"He definitely fits the role…" Belle replied.

"Strong, handsome, elegant…" Li was in her own world as she whispered to herself.

"He has quite the potential…" Emery was nodding approvingly.

Harry wanted to ask them to explain what they meant, but he couldn't find the words in his jumbled brain. The alcohol had hit quicker than he thought it would as he threw back yet another glass. And someone (one of the girls, no doubt) had put on very hypnotizing music that made Harry want to make love or fall asleep. He wasn't quite sure which.

His band mates weren't far behind him on the drunken scale. Danny had probably surpassed him, seeing how the guitarist was now drinking his shots straight from the bottle as he laughed with Camira. Dougie was probably a little bit more sober, though he wouldn't be for long as Eliza continued to keep his glass full to the brim with different types of alcohol.

Tom and Claire had stopped trying to communicate all together and had moved right on to making out. She was straddling his waist and his hands were tangled deep into her reddish-brown hair.

The night seemed to pass in a heavy blur as they all got their sexual fill and passed out in different areas of the room. Thankfully (due to the lack of privacy) none of the guys had seemed to go _all _the way with any of the girls, but there had definitely been a few close calls. Especially on Harry's part. He'd finally exhausted himself after his shirt had been taken off and the four girls seemed to have passed out around him.

"Guys… what did we _do _last night?" Tom groaned out as a strong beam of sunlight glared through a small window in the back of the room and forced him awake. His friends grunted their replies from their various spots on the floor, unable to answer with actual words.

Tom glanced at his watch and silently cursed as he realized it was nearly two in the afternoon. They were supposed to be back on the road by now! They still needed to get gas-

Tom's thought was immediately cut off as he noticed that something was _very _different about the picture before him. He saw Danny slumped across a few tables forced together to make a makeshift bed. He saw Harry covered with his shirt in the far corner. And he saw Dougie sprawled out on his stomach, twitching slightly in his sleep.

But he saw no girls.

"Where'd they go?" Tom asked as he cleared his throat and tried to ignore the dull ache in his head. None of his friends answered him. "Guys!" He snapped loudly, having to clutch his forehead as he did so.

They all groaned in harmony and covered their ears.

"Did all of the girls leave?" Tom asked, wondering curiously if he'd imagined the entire thing and there really _weren't _any girls.

"Huh? They left?" Dougie was slowly sitting up as he squinted around the room, trying to see despite all the painful sunlight.

"Well they're not here…" Tom trailed off, looking around the room just to double check. Harry was slowly sitting up and his shirt fell off his chest and onto the floor. He looked at the thing as if he'd never seen it before in his life.

Danny sat up too quickly and slipped onto the floor, groaning loudly as his back hit the hard tiles. Tom crawled towards him, checking to make sure he was okay.

"What _happened _last night?" Danny groaned as he sat up and clutched his head. "Did I dream all that? Weren't there like ten girls here?" He asked, looking around in confusion.

"Yeah, they've disappeared," Dougie responded first as he tried to stand up.

"Maybe they all went to their rooms?" Danny suggested with a small shrug.

"Yeah, maybe…" Dougie frowned. "How come we didn't see them when we were searching the house yesterday?" He added on curiously.

"They must've been outside, hadn't they? And they must've heard us in here and came to check it out," Danny reasoned as he stood up and extended a hand to Tom, pulling him up as well.

Harry was still in his little corner as he stood up and pulled his shirt on, paying extra attention to each button to make sure he got them in the right holes.

"And Harry was quite the ladies man last night, wasn't he?" Danny added, grinning at his friend.

"Don't talk so loud, Danny, they might hear you," Harry shot back as he finished with his shirt and joined his friends. "Though I _will _say… that was quite a new experience for me," his eyes were wide as the events from the last night replayed in his mind.

"Yeah well, let's go try to find them. We really need to go get that gas…" Tom was back in business mode as they all slowly made their way out of the room, the effects of their hangovers weighing heavily on their skulls.

"I want to brush my teeth…" Dougie commented after five minutes of searching the castle for the girls. The rest of the guys nodded in agreement as the taste of last nights alcohol and saliva coated the inside of their mouths.

"Is your brush in the car?" Tom asked.

"Yeah. Anyone else want theirs?" Dougie asked as he made his way to the front of the castle. It all seemed slightly less spooky now that they'd met the owners and it was daylight.

Three hands shot into the air and Dougie nodded as he made his way to the front entryway while his friends hung back to continue searching the rest of the rooms.

Perhaps Dougie should have noticed how peculiar it was that the girls had suddenly disappeared. Perhaps he should've still noted the chill that continued to hang in the air, clinging to the nape of his neck as he walked through the dark halls. There were many things he should have and _could _have easily picked up on but, perhaps, somewhere in his subconscious he actually did sense the eeriness that still haunted the castle's every nook and cranny, and maybe he suppressed it and pretended not to notice. Ignorance was supposed to be bliss, was it not?

Dougie returned a few moments later after pulling four small duffle bags out of their car. He found his friends waiting for him in the front entryway, each with their own unique look of apprehension on their face.

"What's going on?" He asked immediately, dropping their bags at his feet.

"We can't find the girls," Harry replied, his expression unreadable.

"What do you _mean_ you can't find them?" Dougie retorted disbelievingly.

"It's just like yesterday. They're not here," Danny explained, shaking his head as if he didn't believe it himself.

"That's impossible. Did you check upstairs?" Dougie refused to accept that they'd all imagined the girls. And seven attractive women didn't just _disappear_ once daylight came… so they had to be somewhere.

"Well we didn't check every room, but we called out a lot. They're not here," Tom spoke officially as he reached down and grabbed his duffle bag. "I'm going to go wash up and change. Then I think I'll take a look for them on the grounds. Maybe there's another building we don't know of…" He tried to speak optimistically but there was no missing the sense of urgency that glistened in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'll go with you. The gardens here are enormous," Danny commented as he picked up his bag and left. Dougie and Harry continued to stand in the foyer feelings slightly useless. Should they go searching the grounds as well?

"Why don't we do a bit of excavating here? Maybe find out a little bit more about the girls?" Harry offered as he grabbed his and Dougie's bags off the floor and led the way towards the bathroom.

"I suppose we can do that. I mean, they weren't really offering much personal information last night, were they? For all we know, we could've just caught about a hundred different STD's…" Dougie tried to joke lightly, but Harry didn't laugh. Harry didn't say anything.

The two brushed their teeth in silence and bid Tom and Danny good luck as they left the castle to search the grounds for the girls. In their private thoughts they were each creating terrifying scenarios about the girls. What if what they'd said about the woods was true? What if something dangerous _did _live somewhere within all the dark trees? Were the girls in danger? Were Tom and Danny in danger?

"Let's start upstairs. I don't really think there's much for us to dig through down here," Harry suggested as he opened the door to the spiral staircase. Dougie nodded and led the way, not really sure what they were even looking for.

Harry had much more on his mind than Dougie did, however. He'd come to terms with the fact that there was something _not quite right _about the girls they'd encountered. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that something was out of balance. And he was determined to find out what.

"You and Danny said you found an attic yesterday, right?" Dougie asked as they turned right at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Well let's start there. If there's going to be any interesting information, that's probably where it'll be." Dougie was trying to be logical, and Harry knew that, so Harry moved towards the door that led to the attic. Dougie followed loyally behind him.

Harry opened the door and flipped on the light switch that had been placed at the bottom of the stairs. He heard Dougie sniff lightly behind him at the new smell of mold, dust, and old wood. They started climbing the stairs at the same time, looking behind them every now and then to make sure the door was still open and no one was there. Of course they'd never admit their reasoning aloud, though.

"This place is like a museum… except minus the glass boxes," Dougie commented as they reached the landing. They were standing in an enormous room laden with artifacts and knickknacks and things that were probably worth millions and millions of pounds to some people. None of the McFly boys were huge history buffs, but even _they _knew that most of the stuff in the attic had significant value.

"What do you suppose this does?" Dougie asked as he made his way to a small metal table. There were a bunch of instruments placed upon it, none of them recognizable to Dougie. They almost seemed like torture devices. He held up a long metal rod with a sophisticated hook on the end and turned it around as if it would suddenly come to life and sing out exactly what it was supposed to be used for.

"Actually… I've seen pictures of something like these somewhere," Harry replied as he moved forward to examine the pieces as well. "They're medical tools. From a _long _time ago. You know, before surgery was something they did while you were asleep…"

Dougie gulped loudly and put the instrument back down on the table.

They continued to maneuver their way around the room, looking through boxes and drawers and bags. None of the old things they found seemed to have any connection to the girls from the night before. All of the stuff was just… ancient. Like someone had been collecting it all.

"We could've used these in Tranny, huh?" Harry laughed lightly as he found a full wardrobe full of long, elegant dresses from the Victorian era. He ran his fingers over the fabric and noted that they were still extremely soft.

"I found the corsets!" Dougie grinned as he joined Harry in the wardrobe. The young bassist pulled the hugging underwear from the closet and pressed it against his chest. "What do you think? I don't really think black is my color."

"Are you serious? You look _fabulous_," Harry replied jokingly as he dug through more of the clothes. "Oh, what do we have here?"

He pulled out a long black tailcoat. It was wide through the shoulders and arms, but still slim through the waist. He shrugged it on over his thin t-shirt and shorts, letting the back of it fall down passed his butt.

"That fits you well, mate," Dougie said as he ran his hand over the shoulder. "But it makes you look like you should be a ringmaster at a circus or something."

Harry chuckled lightly as he spun around and put his hands in the coat pockets. Dougie grinned while turning away to examine a bookshelf full of leather-bound first editions. He was glad they were able to continue their jokes and lighten the atmosphere in the dingy castle. They all seriously needed a few good laughs.

However, the moment Dougie had turned away Harry frowned. Inside the coat pocket he felt multiple sheets of paper, something that he was sure wasn't supposed to still be there. He drew the papers from his pocket and examined them as Dougie continued to wander off.

They were photographs. He'd assumed they were taken fairly recently seeing as they were taken on Polaroid film. They were probably the newest things in the entire attic.

The pictures were very odd, though. They were literally pictures of _other _pictures. Someone had arranged very old photographs on top of a pale wooden desk and had documented them onto the Polaroid film.

The photographed pictures were even more confusing. He flicked through the small squares in his hands and stared in confusion at each one. The first one was, undoubtedly, of Camira, the main girl who had been all over Danny the night before. She was wearing one of the elegant dresses Harry had just found and she stood, unsmiling, in the middle of a garden.

The next picture was of Emery, and the next of Rose. Then there was one for Eliza, Belle, Li, and for Claire. Each of them posed separately for the camera while wearing their own beautiful gown, and without even a miniscule trace of a smile on their faces. Harry looked at the last picture and frowned in complete confusion.

They were all standing together now, as if they were posing for a family portrait except… there was another person standing with them. But he wasn't _really _a person, was he? Or… it? There was certainly a pair of shoes, pants, a shirt, and the long black tailcoat Harry was wearing… and they certainly looked as if something was standing inside them to hold the outfit together… but there was no face, no hands. Almost like a ghost had taken residence inside the clothes and decided it wanted to pose for a picture with the girls.

"Harry! Come have a look at this! I found a skull!" Harry quickly stuffed the photos in his pants pockets and ran as fast as he could to Dougie, who he assumed would be laying horror struck on the floor from such a sight. Instead, to Harry's bewilderment, Dougie was bend over in front of a desk with an amazed smile on his face.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, his eyes wide with bafflement as he approached his friend. Dougie was bent over the desk and looking into a small wooden box in complete awe.

"They're bat bones! Look!" Dougie moved over so Harry could get a better look. Sure enough, lying inside the box was a complete bat skeleton that looked as if it someone had carefully placed each individual bone in its specific place. The box was weird though. It had some sort of inscription carved in around the rim, but it was done in a language Harry had never even seen before.

"What…? It looks like a tiny dinosaur," Harry remarked as he stood beside Dougie to examine the thing. Did it die there on it's own? Surely it must have. Bats were known to populate attics quite a lot, weren't they?

But then Harry noticed the things around the bat. There were dried flowers and burned candles, placed perfectly in a circle. Almost like a funeral.

How strange?

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Look, you can see the bones of the wings. How _cool_," Dougie breathed, reaching out to touch the thing but letting his fingers drop at the last second respectfully. "I can't believe it just died here. It's too formal, too staged. Do you think the girls did this? Maybe they're Wiccans or something, though I don't know much about that either-" Dougie's ramblings were cut off by the sound of Harry's wrist watch beeping.

"We've got an hour till show time…" Harry explained after he read the time, causing Dougie to groan.

"Dude, this sucks! We're going to miss our own gig! And we can't even call them to tell them where we are!" Dougie's previously calm mood seemed to evaporate once he heard the time. None of the guys liked canceling gigs. At all.

"Maybe Tom and Danny got lucky and found the girls… or maybe they found phone service or something…" Harry trailed off with a sense of false hope in his voice.

But Harry and Dougie had no idea that their two friends were having just as horrible luck with their search through the grounds. They'd spent nearly three hours roaming the woods, calling out the girls' names, and walking in circles.

"CAMIRA!" Danny shouted as his voice cracked. He was hot, sweaty, and tired. All he really wanted to do was go home and sleep. His voice was shot and even if they _miraculously _make it to their gig, there was no way he'd be able to sing. Tom was probably worse off.

"Dude, I seriously need some water. We should just head back…" The blonde was saying as he wiped a small trickle of sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I can't believe we walked all the way back down the hill… going up is going to be murder," Danny groaned loudly as his feet hit the dirt road and he and Tom moved back in the direction of the massive hill up to the castle.

"If… I don't… make it…" Tom wheezed out after nearly thirty minutes, "Tell my family… I love them…"

"Shut up…" Danny tried not to laugh, wanting to save his breath as they both continued to hike slowly up the mountain.

The only reason they'd gone down in the first place was to see if cell service worked down on the other end of the road. When the realized they were living in a dead zone they'd decided to give the old man in the shack a visit again, only to find the little hut completely deserted. They'd both laughed it off, joking about him going on vacation to Hawaii or the Bahamas.

But unlike Harry and Dougie, neither Danny nor Tom had a problem mentioning how odd and eerie the castle seemed. They'd spent most of their journey discussing possible scenarios or mysterious plots pertaining to the girls and how they came to be there.

And why they were missing.

"Maybe, you know, what they were saying about the woods last night really _was _true," Danny spoke roughly as they finally neared the summit of the hill. "What if something lives out there and it got them?"

"Then we should try to find them before it gets dark again," Tom responded quickly as shivers ran up his spine, despite the fact that he was internally over heating.

"Yeah, but what if we don't find them before it gets dark?"

"Ugh, I don't know…"

"And what if we can't find them at all? How are we ever supposed to get out of here?"

"Danny, you've really got to stop it with all these _what if _questions. I just don't know," Tom confessed with a little agitation. "We just have to stay positive, okay?"

'Yeah, you're right. Sorry," Danny apologized as they neared the castle. "Maybe we should check the grounds one more time. You know, in case we missed something."

"Sure. Sounds good," Tom agreed, not really ready to give up hope despite how hungry and thirsty he was.

They entered the trees from the west and forced their way through the brush. The ground was hard and very difficult to maneuver, the result of little to no people ever walking it. As they moved on Danny called out the girls' names, alternating between the ones he could remember while Tom held his phone out in front of his face and concentrated on the signal bars. It hadn't moved the entire time they'd been lost.

"Tom… look…" Tom looked up from his mobile in compete terror. Danny's tone had been concerning and it caused the blonde to stare around in bewilderment, looking for the bodies of all the girls piled on top of one another or something just as horrific.

But all he saw in front of him was a massive clearing in the middle of the woods. There was a small graveyard directly before them and it extended all the way across to a stone church.

"What do you suppose it's doing out here?" Tom asked curiously as they both made their way forward to examine the building more closely.

"I reckon the people who build the castle wanted a place to worship or something…" Danny responded. "It's a bit spooky though. I don't think I'd ever want to go to a service here or anything," he added, staring at the building suspiciously.

The church did seem a bit too mysterious for any old regular congregation. It had an aura of falseness to it, something that neither of the men really trusted. But they couldn't just turn around and leave, no matter how creepy the building was. What if the girls were in there? Maybe it wasn't as bad on the inside…

"This person died in 1824…" Tom read one of the tombstones as they passed. It was gray and sinking into the soft ground below it, but the small indentations where the words were carved into it were still slightly legible.

"Mate… look at the name…" Danny was reading it over Tom's shoulder.

"Rose Thomas?" Tom shrugged, not finding the name significant at all.  
"Wasn't one of the girls named Rose?"

"Danny, there are millions of people named Rose," Tom laughed as they moved on.

"I know but… it still feels weird…" Danny bit his lip, following behind his friend.

"That one says Emerson Tildly… One of the girls was named Emery."

"Danny, stop it. Do you hear how stupid you sound right now?"

"And an Annabelle! That's _definitely _her name!"

"Danny! Quit it!"

"And there's Liron's! Dude I'm not even kidding you right now! It says Liron Yun!"

"Seriously Danny, we're almost in the church. You're being paranoid-"

"This one says Claire Rosenthal," Danny pointed to the crumbling remains of a graying tombstone.

"What?" Tom's attention was caught. He walked back to Danny to look at the remains.

"Yeah, Claire Rosenthal. Born August 4, 1802 and died 1824… hey that's just like Rose Thomas'," Danny looked back at the first stone they'd noticed.

"Danny, just stop, okay? We're all ready freaked out and now you're just making it worse. It's a coincidence. That's all." Tom refused to accept what Danny was trying, and failing, to suggest. It was impossible.

"All I'm saying is that maybe the girls aren't who they say they are. Maybe they just took their names from the tombstones or something-"

"Danny, stop! Seriously-" Tom was starting to get really annoyed. This was exactly what they didn't need.

"Tom…?" Danny suddenly interrupted his friend in a very low, shocked voice. Tom closed his eyes and sighed, still not willing to give in.

"What?"

"This… this one says Camira… Camira Vanderbilt…" Danny read the words to his friend, unable to process them himself.

"What? No it doesn't…" Tom went over to read the name with his own eyes. And sure enough, _Camira Vanderbilt_ stared right back up at him.

"Still think coincidence?" Danny asked, almost worriedly.

"Yeah… it must be…" Tom was lying to himself and Danny knew it.

"I'm not really sure how much I _want _to find the girls right now," Danny said quietly as they turned away from the gravestone and continued walking towards the church. They'd been on their hunt so long the sun was starting to set beyond the tree line. "We should be quick," Danny added after he took the sunlight into consideration.

"Yeah, we'll be really quick…" Tom agreed as they jumped up the front stone steps and pulled back the large oak door.

The inside would have probably once been considered beautiful, but after years of abandonment it had become slightly forlorn. There was a faded red carpet stretched between the pews that reached all the way up to the large granite table centered in the front of the hall. Above the table was an enormous crucifix, complete with a bone-thin, bleeding Jesus.

"Um… girls?" Danny called loudly and his voice reverberated throughout the room. There was a red wooden door on the back wall below the hanging crucifix and Tom crossed the room to open it but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh well… no one's here…" Danny sighed, shrugging his shoulder as he made to leave. There wasn't a single bone in his body that wished to stay in the church a moment longer.

"Yeah, we best be off," Tom agreed and ran to catch up with his friend who had already exited the building. The sun had started to set even deeper behind the trees and nearly everything was cast into shadows. Tom and Danny half walked/half ran back to the castle, not wanting to get left out after dark.

"Nearly there…" Tom breathed as they jogged, watching as the castle came into view.

"Good… maybe Dougie and Harry found some food… I'm starving…" Danny huffed as well, listening to his stomach growl.

But the thought of seeing their friends and eating some food immediately left their minds as fear over took their bodies. They stopped dead in their tracks, unable to move.

"Did you see-" Tom's voice was cut off as a flash of black darted in front of them again. It was almost like a large animal was speeding so quickly around them they could only glimpse a sight of it for a second before it disappeared again.

"What is it-" Danny's question was cut off as whatever the large black dash was suddenly pushed by him and knocked Tom forcefully on to the ground. They both let out screams of fear as Tom crashed roughly onto the forest floor and skidded about twenty feet away from Danny.

The black dash was coming back around again as Danny tried to race towards his friend. He was shoved out of the way by whatever the creature was and he, too, flew through the air and crashed onto the hard ground. He lifted his head up, screamed obscene curses, and he watched the black mass sprint passed his friend again.

Tom lifted his head in pain, trying to right himself as his breath suddenly came back to him. He noticed Danny lying across the grass, yelling swear words as whatever had hit him came around. Tom put his hands up over his face, ready to protect himself, but it did nothing to help. He felt a hot slash of pain over his shoulder and neck and he was forced back onto the ground. He felt warm liquid sodden his shirt and he realized, kind of in shock, that he was bleeding. _Profusely_. Through a large slide above his collarbone.

It felt like someone had taken an impossibly thin knife and slit him across the top of his chest. His hand reached the large cut and he groaned in pain, anger, and confusion.

Danny was trying to stagger over to his friend who he could see _bleeding _on the grass, but every time he got up he was forced down again by whatever the black dash was. Danny fought though – he fought with all his might. He was screaming and yelling, telling Tom to get up and run but it seemed almost like his friend was too shocked to do anything but lay on the grass and hold his massive wound.

"TOM! MOVE!" Danny shouted again as he stood up only to be knocked back down harder than ever. He felt his breath leave his lungs as what felt like a metal pole swung against his chest and sent him flying through the air.

Danny held his head as he crashed into a tree and slid to the ground. He was in so much pain. He was going to die. This… thing… whatever it was… it was going to kill him. And he couldn't save Tom. He wouldn't be able to see Dougie or Harry or his family ever again. He was going to die.

He peaked one of his eyes open as tears of pain streaked down his face. He couldn't breathe. His chest hurt so much. He was able to watch, though, in total horror as Tom's body was lifted off the ground by the speeding black dash and disappeared into the woods.

_"TOM!" _Danny tried to shout, but he couldn't voice a thing. It came out as a horse moan. _"TOM!" _

With a new purpose, Danny fell onto his hands and knees and crawled back into the middle of the field. He had to find Tom.

Inside the castle Dougie and Harry were completely oblivious to the events going on outside in the yard as the sun began setting. They'd been walking through the halls of the castle trying to find something… _anything _that could help them either find a way home or find out more about the girls.

"Dude, I don't think I've ever been this hungry in my _life_," Dougie groaned as he held his stomach while it growled loudly.

"Ugh, don't talk about it. It just makes it worse…" Harry massaged his own abdomen as he continued to scorn the cabinets in the kitchen. "How do these girls _live_? Are they all bloody anorexic?" He was growing increasingly frustrated as yet another cupboard turned out to be empty.

"Hey… why do you think Dan and Tom aren't back yet?" Dougie asked, trying to change the subject off of food as his stomach gave yet another loud groan.

"I don't know… because _maybe _they found someone who can actually help us?" Harry suggested with a false optimism. Neither he nor Dougie truly believed his words.

"I just… I can't just _sit _here… I feel like I'm wasting time," Dougie sighed after a few seconds. "I have so much pent up energy."

"Sounds like you need a treadmill to run all your troubles away on," Harry laughed as he opened another drawer and pull out a set of silverware. "Why would they have all this if they don't have anything to eat with it?"

"There _is _a really nice gym upstairs…" Dougie remembered, totally ignoring Harry's little rant about the food. "You know what? I think I'm going to go use it. Come find me when Tom and Danny show up," Dougie decided as he slid off the kitchen barstool and left Harry rummaging through the kitchen.

Dougie felt twitchy. He knew something wasn't right but he had no idea what it was. All he knew was that he didn't like the uncomfortable feeling pulsing through his veins and a good, long run on the treadmill would probably set him straight. He found the workout room with no problem and mounted the treadmill in the back. He probably wasn't dressed right at all but at that particular moment he didn't really care. He just wanted to go home.

Harry had stopped looking through the hundreds of cupboards in the kitchen as soon as Dougie left. He sighed and took a seat on one of the extra barstools, trying to think of ways their situation could possibly get better. They already missed their concert – people _had _to be out looking for them, right? Maybe in the morning they could all walk to a more populated area and find a phone or something or _anything_-

Harry's fingers brushed against the pictures he still had in his pocket. All he wanted was some answers… but it seemed like every time he found some kind of clue, it just opened up a hundred more questions.

He took the pictures out of his pocket and set them out along the table, examining them again. There were no answers in the pictures. There was only sadness and confusion. None of the girls looked happy, none of them were laughing like it was all some sort of joke. So what was the _point_? Why were they hidden out here with no other people? Why was their kitchen completely empty? Why were their bedrooms so unlived in and stale, and why on earth _didn't they have a phone_?

"Hello Harry," Harry's eyes flickered away from the photographs as his heart skipped a beat in complete terror. He glanced up to see five of the seven girls standing in front of him with ravenous looks in their eyes. They were sizing him up. Camira was in front with a small, predatorial smile on her face.

"Wha..?" Harry found it difficult to speak. His mind felt hazy, like a cloud of fog had settled in and blanketed all his thoughts. What was going on?

Suddenly the girls were gone. Just like that – they vanished. They moved so quickly Harry could barely keep his eyes on them and they looked like dashes of black blitzing through the air.

He was knocked roughly off his chair and onto the floor. The marble floor was hard and he heard his head crack against it, but he felt no pain. Or maybe it was sopainful that he was _unable_ to feel pain. He couldn't really tell.

"Ugh… DOUGIE!" He screamed automatically. He didn't know what was going on but he knew he needed help. Where were Tom and Danny? Had the same thing happened to them? Had the girls already gotten to Dougie too? Was he okay?

Dougie stopped running on the treadmill, his heart beating fast and his blood pumping through his ears. He strained to listen as he moved away from the machine. He was sure he'd heard something…

_"DOUGIE!" _He didn't wait another second as Harry's scream echoed through the halls. He tore out of the room faster than he'd thought possible and ran for the staircase.

But something tripped him at the very top.

He toppled down the stone spiral steps, banging his head, his arms, his back, his knees… everything. He landed with a loud _oomph _at the very bottom and groaned, knowing his entire body would probably be bruised in a few hours.

_"Dougie!" _Harry's voice wasn't as loud as it had been before, and it sounded much more strained. Dougie lifted his head and pushed his body off into a kneeling position, determined to find his friend.

Suddenly Harry's body was dragged out of the kitchen. Dougie tried to make out the creature that was pulling him but all he could see in the small moment of time was a black mass dash in front of him. The basement door, the locked one none of them had been able to force open, suddenly unlocked and swung wide for whatever was pulling Harry to enter. Dougie crawled forward after his friend, who's eyes were shinning wide with terror, but before Dougie could go more than a few steps the door shut behind him.

"Harry!" Dougie croaked as he stumbled into a standing position and tried to pry the door open again. It remained locked in place no matter how hard Dougie pulled.

"HARRY!" Dougie was banging on the door with a rage of determination. He shouldn't have left Harry alone… he knew there was something wrong with the castle… it was all his fault…

"Dougie…" a quiet, pained voice said from behind him. Dougie spun around, ready to fight whatever was there, only to see Danny limping through the corridor, supporting a bloody arm and looking like he'd rolled around in dirt.

Tom wasn't with him.

"Oh no…" Dougie heard himself say as realization rippled through him. "No… no you, too…"

"They got him…" Danny's voice broke as silent tears trickled down his dirty cheeks. "I couldn't… they took him… the woods… I don't… Harry?" Danny's eyes were pleading. As if begging Dougie not to say what they both already knew.

"I don't know what it was… a black… a _streak _of something… it took him in the basement…" Dougie started pushing on the door again, willing for it to open up so he could save his friend.

But at that particular moment, their friend didn't really _need _saving.

Harry was on a bed. It was soft, warm, and big enough to fit him and the other five girls who had their hands all over him. He knew he was supposed to be scared. He knew that everything about the situation was wrong and he was supposed to be fighting his way out of the room and back upstairs. But, like many other weak men before him, he fell victim to the lure of beautiful women.

But even Harry had to admit it wasn't just their beauty that captivated him. There was something more… something hypnotizing that held him in his spot despite how much he wanted to get out of the room and find his friends. It was almost like he was chained to the bed even though there were no cuffs in sight.

"We've waited for you to return for a _long _time…" Camira whispered in his ear as she peeled off his shirt.

"I've never been here before…" Harry choked out as she kissed and licked at his neck.

"Oh but you have… do you not remember our faces? Do you not remember these halls? We have waited for you, Harold. You are our master, and you have returned…" Her voice was enticing and lulled him into a deep trance. He tried to think about what she was saying but couldn't focus. Who was he supposed to be? He was Harry. Harry Judd… right?

No more words were spoken as the girls continued to attack his body. He couldn't keep track of whose hands were where or which girl he was touching. All he knew was that he couldn't stop. He needed more.

"I'm going to bite you…" Camira whispered in his ear, causing him to shiver.

"I know." It was the truth. Harry knew, somewhere in his mind, that he had to receive a bite from Camira. He didn't know why he knew it. Maybe she put the thought into his head? Maybe it was his destiny or fate or whatever people went on about… but he knew.

It didn't hurt as badly as he thought it would. It was almost like getting a shot at the doctors, and then the pleasure started to sink in. It was almost as pleasurable as sex or maybe just foreplay. Harry felt needed and he loved the pull of her lips against his skin, taking a part of him into her as she drank.

He suddenly didn't feel scared or worried anymore. He felt slightly guilty, because his friends were probably still frightened for him, but his guilt wasn't bad. He knew it would fade away eventually. There was truly only one thing he felt now. There was only one thing he pined for…

Tom jerked out of a daze a half-mile away inside the stone church. He must have passed out as whatever-it-was carried him into the woods. And he must've been out long enough to fall into some kind of dream state because images of Harry surrounded by the girls were still flashing behind his eyelids. Harry was on a bed… then on a couch… then standing up… with five or six girls around him each time. They were doing sexually explicit things and… biting? Yes there was a lot of biting… and bleeding… and… tails? Devil tails? He remembered one of the girls in his dream (Camira, maybe?) pole dancing. She definitely had a tail. And she was dancing in what looked like a large drawing of a vampire mouth.

He needed to learn how to control his dreams.

He felt sore and tired and scared and it took all of his will power to sit up on the stone table. The room was deserted, though a few candles had been lit to give the room a haunted golden glow.

Tom's shoulder was on fire.

He looked down at his shirt and gasped, noticing all the blood. He'd been sliced cleanly from his shoulder, across his chest, and slightly up to his neck. Blood was seeping out slowly, but it didn't seem close to healing any time soon. And it hurt so freaking much…

He gingerly took his t-shirt off, leaving on his undershirt, and held the extra fabric to the wound. Some of the blood around the cut was already drying and it stuck to the cotton, making it difficult for him to dab at.

He looked away from his shoulder, hoping to find some kind of answers throughout the room. What on _earth _had attack him and Danny? Was his friend okay? Why had the thing brought him here? Why did it just leave him? Could he escape? Where would he go if he could? Were his friends okay?

Tom stopped his train of thought and decided to focus on each question one at a time. He had no idea what had attacked him and whatever it was had disappeared so he felt that it was best to put the thing out of his mind for the time being.

Tom slid gently of the stone table and walked around the church, testing the windows and doors. He'd originally thought the large windows were made out of stained-glass but as he tried to break them he realized they were made out of something much more durable… and unbreakable. The doors had also been locked and no matter how hard he shoved his good shoulder against them they weren't budging.

Tom sighed as he slid into the closest pew to the large crucifix. There _had _to be something he could do – some way to arm himself if whatever-it-was returned? Tom started looking around frantically for a pointy flagpole or maybe a candelabrum… and then his eyes fell on a book.

It was placed carefully beside him in the pew, like someone had left it there so they wouldn't forget about it. He picked it up gently, feeling the leather cover and looking at the golden words written in a language he'd never seen before. It didn't even look human.

He opened the large book with ease and noted with surprise that the text was written in English. He flickered through the pages and saw careful instructions, ink drawings of what looked like torture, and pages of informative text. It was a guidebook. A manual.

But for what… he had no idea.

He flipped to a random page and began reading, hoping to understand more as he went along.

_…In order for the transformation to be complete, the human must be bitten by the coven's head vampire. Said vampire must drink for one full minute, not a second longer and not a second short. Within the next hour, the now half-vampire must drink from a human host or it will surely die. _

_ The human host, if prepared ceremonially, should have a horizontal incision opened for the half-vampire, in order to entice him. If no human host is prepared, it is crucial for the half-vampire to find one within the hour. _

Tom stopped reading and nearly threw the book away from him. It was all too much. Vampires? Half-vampires? Human hosts? Couldn't the world just stick with Twilight and it's vegetarian-vampires? That sounded much more human-friendly.

Tom eyed the book as curiosity ate away at him. He _knew _vampires didn't exist but… well, he _had _to be sure, didn't he?

He opened the book again but this time he skimmed with a purpose.

_…There are many distinctive characteristics of vampires. They carry over many of their physical traits from when they were human but once the re-birthing ceremony is complete they become so much more. Their aesthetic appearance enhances and humans cannot help but be drawn to them sexually. Their saliva acts as an aphrodisiac and they have the capability to will a human's mind to do their wishes if the mind is open enough. Vampires are capable of traveling at immense speeds, lifting great weights, and turning into bats at their leisure. Their only one true weakness is the sun. _

_ One problem found among many vampires can happen during the re-birthing process. If their human-self does not accept what is happening and if they fight or scream, they are reborn without a voice. They lose their ability to speak. _

Tom stared at the page in complete horror as the words sunk into his mind. Hadn't… _Claire_… the girl he made out with… hadn't _she_ been born without a voice box? Wasn't that what Camira had said?

And traveling at immense speeds… the thing that had attacked him had only been a flash of black. All he knew was that it had been moving quickly.

And the horizontal cut on his shoulder…

Tom didn't want to believe it. He knew it was _insane _to believe it. But what other explanation did he have? This book was the only thing offering answers, and given his situation he'd be an idiot not to listen.

He went back to the book, praying that the answers he _really _needed were in there…

_…Killing a vampire is very difficult. The only completely thorough way would be using the sun's UV rays, seeing as they are poisonous to vampires. But sometimes waiting for daylight isn't an option._

_There is nothing stronger, faster, or smarter than a vampire. In order for another vampire, or human, to be able to kill one, they must first find an instrument of extreme sentimental value to themselves. It doesn't matter how strong, soft, big, or small the instrument is. As long as it has a strong emotional connection to the one doing the killing, it will work. _

_ The instrument must be forced through the heart of the vampire. Only this will work. And, unlike their reaction to the sun, …ste..d of …i.g co..plet…y t..y ..e ..ro….t …k to ….eir ..ma….rm. _

Tom stared at the last of the words that had faded away over time. He frowned, slightly aggravated, but closed the book as he thought over what he'd just read.

If they were _truly _dealing with a coven of vampires, and all of the crazy signs said they were, then Tom needed to come up with a plan. And fast.

Dougie and Danny, on the other hand, still had no idea what they were up against. All they knew was that some terrifying creature was hunting them down and had kidnapped their friends.

"Dougie… we're not going to be able to get through…" Danny heaved as they both slid down the basement door and crumpled on the floor.

"But we can't… we can't just give up!" Dougie cried angrily, slamming his fist against the wood.

"No… we just need to figure out a plan. Maybe we can find something in the house to use as leverage-" Danny's words were cut short as a small pounding sound met their ears. It was coming from somewhere far away, maybe out in the foyer? Dougie and Danny looked at each other curiously, wondering what was making the noise.

They both got off the floor and slowly walked through the long corridor back towards the front room. The repetitive pounding continued to get louder as they neared their destination and they both frowned. Neither of them really wanted to give up on finding Harry, but their curiosity overtook them.

"Someone's knocking on the door?" Danny spoke aloud when they entered the dark room and realized the pounding was coming from the other side of the front door.

"Do we… do we answer it?" Dougie asked as fear flowed through his body. What if it was the black blur again? The last thing he wanted was to voluntarily let it in. But it had _already _been in the house. It had taken Harry.

So what was outside?

"What if it's Tom?" Danny asked, looking down at Dougie with worried eyes. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds, debating their choices silently, and finally stepped forward to unlock the door.

Danny reached it first and pulled it back half an inch, just enough to peek his eye out to see who was standing on the steps.

"Um… hi?" It was a girl. But it wasn't one of the girls from the previous night. She was new and innocent looking in her small pink dress and her hair pulled back with a headband.

Danny didn't trust her for a second.

"Who are you?" Danny asked accusingly, not opening the door any wider than he already had.

_"Who is it? Shut the door!" _Dougie was whispering behind him, obviously scared as well.

"My name is Tracey… My, um, there's something wrong with my car? And a little old man at the bottom of the hill said that someone up here might be able to help me?" The girl was looking at him as if he was insane. There was only a sliver of his body visible and from what she could tell, he as covered in dirt and blood.

"We can't help you. Leave," Danny responded quickly, thinking the whole thing was a trick, so he shut the door in the girl's face. He turned around to see Dougie with an expectant expression on his face.

"Well? What did she want? Who was she?"

"Some bird I've never seen before. Said her car broke down. Load of bullocks, if you ask me," Danny replied angrily. This was exactly what they _didn't _need. He just wanted to find Tom and Harry and get away from the castle before more weird things started happening. Or before someone got _seriously_ hurt.

And he was praying he could do it all in time.

"Yeah well maybe-" Dougie's suggestion was cut off as they both turned to head back to the octagonal room. They stared in horror at the sight before them as they froze in fear.

"Hello Danny. Hello Dougie." One of the girls from the night before (was it Rose?) stood before them with a small smile on her face and a hungry look in her eye. There was roughly ten feet between them yet Dougie and Danny felt more trapped then ever. They didn't know _why _they felt so terrified, but they knew to trust their guts.

_"Run…_" Danny whispered to Dougie as he turned on his heel and wrenched the door open again. He and Dougie sprinted out of the castle, not wasting any time to look behind them to see if Rose was following.

"Ahh!" A loud piercing scream reached their ears and they stopped to look back and see the small girl in the pink dress being dragged out of her car by the black blur.

Dougie started running again, too terrified to hang around and wait, and left Danny staring at the girl as guilt pulsed through his veins. He looked after Dougie who was now sprinting in the direction of the trees.

"Dougie! DON'T RUN INTO THE WOODS!" He yelled as images of Tom getting dragged off reentered his mind. But Dougie seemed to be too terrified to listen and Danny watched as his friend's back slowly disappeared.

"Ahh!" Danny attention was pulled away from the tree line as he saw the girl, Tracey, fighting tooth-and-nail against whatever was trying to pull her out of the car. Danny raced forward, knowing he _had _to help. He was the one who locked her out. He had to try and save her.

"Get away!" Danny screamed, trying to push whatever the black blur was, but it moved too fast and he ended up falling on his face. Tracey was still screaming and Danny felt himself getting lifted off the ground and thrown again. The familiar _oomph _came through his mouth as he landed on the ground and rolled over.

"Please! Help me!" The girl was still screaming as the black blur ran over to her and continued try and maneuver her out of the car. Danny mustered all of his strength and courage and pulled himself off the ground for what felt like the millionth time that night.

Tracey seemed to be losing her fight. The only thing still keeping her weighted to the car was her death grip on the steering wheel. Her legs and torso were being dragged out the door and she was crying and screaming. Danny ran over, wondering where he should grab in order to help, but it was too late. Her fingers were pried from the wheel and she was yanked forcefully back and dragged away so quickly Danny didn't have time to reach for her hand.

He was all alone now.

Dougie knew he should turn around and go back to help Danny. He knew he was being a coward and selfish but he literally couldn't stop his feet from pounding through the forest. Everywhere he looked he was positive he saw evil creatures lurking behind trees ready to jump out and kill him. He needed a place to hide; somewhere he could regroup and figure out what the fuck to do.

And then he saw it. There was a clearing in front of him used for a church and a graveyard. Dougie nearly cried from relief as he tore across the lawn, burst open the doors, and slammed them shut behind him. If only Danny had come with him… if only Harry hadn't been kidnapped… if only Tom… oh _Tom…_

_ "Dougie?_" Dougie stopped his silent tears at the sound of his name. He _had _to be imagining it, right? It was from all the stress of the evening. That was it.

"Tom?" Dougie asked as he looked around the room. The world was playing tricks on him. It had to be.

"How did you get in? I thought the door was locked?" Tom stood up from his seat in one of the church pews and made his way over to the extremely distressed boy.

"You're alive!" Dougie finally choked out, running over to the blonde and engulfing him in an enormous hug. Tom couldn't help but chuckle lightly, but he knew that something horrible must have happened to get Dougie _this _worked up.

"I'm fine… just watch the shoulder…" he pulled away lightly and Dougie saw the blood red stain across his chest.

"What _happened_?" Dougie breathed, his eyes wide with terror.

"We'll talk about it later. First, we've _got _to get out of here," Tom's voice was completely serious. "Where's Harry? Have you seen Danny? We got separated," Tom asked, hoping his friends were doing better than he was.

"Harry… Harry got taken by… I don't know what the fuck it was. It was moving fast and it just took him into the basement of the castle! And Danny came to find me after you got taken away and we tried to get the basement door open but it wouldn't budge… and then one of the girls from last night showed up and there was something _wrong _with her. I don't know what but I could just tell so Danny and I ran out but… but…" Dougie was rambling. He was losing track of the words spilling from his mouth. Tom just stared at him, patiently listening. "But… there was this other girl. I think she showed up just like us. Something about her car breaking down? Danny and I didn't believe her at first but then the thing that got Harry trapped her and Danny stayed to try to save her but I just ran and I'm such a bloody coward! Tom, we've got to go help. Let's go!" Dougie grabbed his friend's arm and began pulling him out the door. Tom put up very little of a fight and followed behind, still trying to process what the bassist had said. There was _another _girl? And Danny was trying to save her?

Together they ran through the woods, trying to remember their way back to the castle. Everything looked so much stranger at night and the trees blew mysteriously in the wind, making it sound like the woods were plotting behind evil whispers. Tom desired nothing more than to pull a Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and click his heels together three times and just wish himself home.

"Danny!" Dougie called as they broke through the tree line and found themselves in the castle's front garden. Tom looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint his friend in the dark light. It wasn't too difficult, seeing as he was sitting in the middle of the yard with his head in his hands.

"It took her… it's my fault… it took her…" Tom and Dougie approached him carefully as they overheard his mumbling. Danny felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

"Danny?" Dougie asked quietly, bending down and touching his friend.

"It took her!" Danny yelled, looking up to meet their eyes. "I couldn't stop it!"

"We know Dan… we know…" Tom bent down as well and tried to sooth his friend's hysterics. "There was nothing you could do."

"I should've let her in! Then maybe she would've been safe!"

"Danny, we ran out of the house right after that. She had as much of a chance at safety as we did," Dougie replied logically.

"I know but… she asked me to help her…" Danny was nearly in tears as he leaned into his friends. The night was having a serious affect on all of their nervous systems.

"Danny, I know you're upset but we need to get up. We need to find somewhere safe to hide. I need to talk to both of you," Tom demanded as he tried to lift Danny off of the ground. It was only then that Danny even realized his friend was there.

"Tom! You're okay!" Danny's eyes were wide with shock as he let his friend's pick him up off the ground. "You're still bleeding!"

"I know, I know. We'll talk about it in a second. Here," Tom led the way towards their Honda. He opened the driver's side door for Danny and made him sit as Dougie got into the back. Tom then proceeded to walk around and jump into the passenger's seat.

"What happened to you? Are you okay? Where did the thing take you? What was it?" Danny rattled off questions a mile a minute and Tom had to literally place a hand over his friend's mouth in order to quiet him.

"I don't know what the thing was… or well… I have an idea…" Tom then began to explain to them everything he'd read in the mysterious vampire book. They both listened intently with shocked eyes as his words reached their ears. He knew he probably sounded crazy but he felt even _crazier_ trying to ignore the possibility...

"So I think… I think the blurs we've been seeing were actually the girls from last night moving so quickly that they just appear as a blur." Tom finished lamely, looking back and forth between his friends for their input.

Danny reacted by locking the car doors.

"You think… that they want to _make _Harry one of them?" Dougie asked quietly from the back seat.

"I don't know _what _to think. But the thing cut me deep enough horizontally for me to think so," Tom replied as he continued to press his extra shirt against the cut. He'd been feeling light headed from the loss of blood.

"So what are we supposed to do? I mean, if they _are _vampires… how are we supposed to… you know…" Danny couldn't bring himself to actually finish the sentence. It was all too strange for him.

"Well… I've got an idea," Tom replied and then began to explain his plan.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't thinking about how he was supposed to escape the castle, or how he would break out to find his friends. He wasn't thinking about Tom or Dougie or Danny or anything really. He was more or less thinking about the girls and how long it'd taken him to realize they were vampires. And he knew they wanted him to be a vampire, too. He didn't really know _how _he knew (it was kind of difficult for him to think seeing as everything was still a bit fuzzy) but he'd accepted his fate pretty easily.

He was half walking/half being carried down a long, thin stone passage way. Actual flaming torches that were screwed into the walls lightened the tunnel, and they seemed to only light up right before Harry and the girls passed. He didn't know where they were going, but he allowed them to lead him without any fuss. He was so weak…

They suddenly arrived at a red wooden door. The girls had to lift him up a few steps in order to open it, but as soon as they did they thrust him through the doorway and slammed it closed behind him. He had to hold onto the wall in order to keep himself standing.

That was until he smelled something _magnificent_.

His eyes slowly lifted from the floor and landed on a large marble table five feet from him. There was a girl in a small pink dress strapped to it by her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were blindfolded with a black cloth and even though her eyes weren't visible, Harry knew she was crying.

There was a small, human part of him that couldn't stand to see something so innocent suffer so he slowly moved forward and found the latches that bolted her to the table. He worked his way around and released her bindings one by one.

When the final one was undone, she immediately sat up and removed her blindfold. The second she saw Harry she squeaked in terror and bolted for the doors, trying with all her might to open them. She seemed to realize, somehow, that he was one of the bad guys.

Harry watched her fight the door for a few seconds, contemplating his next move. She smelled divine. Good enough to eat.

She turned to face him as he used the table to support himself. He still felt extremely weak and he knew it was only a matter of time before he collapsed all together.

The girl eyed him suspiciously and then, as if she decided he was in no state to hurt her, she slowly made her way over to him. Without speaking a word, she made her way under his arm and let him lean on her.

And that was when the smell _really _hit Harry.

There was a wound on her shoulder that stretched all the way to the crook of her neck. Blood was trickling out in a slow but steady flow. The scent gave him energy. It made him stronger.

And Harry wanted, no _needed_, to bite her.

Harry moved faster than he'd ever moved before as he pulled her in front of him and stared deep into her eyes. It nearly shocked him to see how terrified and fearful she was… but there was something else…

Lust.

Knowing that, despite her trepidation, she wanted him, Harry let out a low growl and kissed her hard on the mouth. He felt things so much more distinctively – so much more _thoroughly _in his new state of mind. Her hands in his hair, his fingers against her skin, their clothes bunching up against one another… it all made him want to go mad.

"This. Lose it." His voice was forceful as he gathered the skirt of her dress in his hands. Her fingers were shaking as she started to undo the top buttons.

But Harry had no patience. The smell of her need, the smell of her _blood_, it was all overpowering him.

He lifted her off the ground and her legs wrapped securely around his waist. He carried her over to the nearest wall – a nook with religious books stacked on metal shelves – and pinned her against it. There was a small file cabinet below her and he forced her to sit on it, almost roughly, and pulled his shirt over his head.

He heard her gasp as he revealed more skin. Just her _breathing _made him want her even more. He threw himself against her, unbuttoning his pants and licking at her lips. He could practically hear her heart beat.

His hands went up her sides and cupped her breasts through the material of her dress. She'd been too distracted to remove it completely. She gasped and arched, throwing her head back and revealing her shoulder wound to him.

The smell of her was intoxicating. He had to have it.

He pulled his lips away from hers and began licking at her neck, tasting the excess blood and groaning as the liquid hit his throat. It was like drinking the most delicious drug. He needed more.

And without a second thought, he bit her.

The feel of her blood coating the inside of his throat was absolutely divine. He wanted to drink her dry – make her into a human raisin. How had he lived so long without the beauty that was pouring through his lips? It was like air. He needed it to survive.

He heard her cry out a little bit as he drank gulp after gulp of what she had so willingly provided him with. He knew he needed to stop or she'd become limp against him… but he couldn't… he had to just have one… more… pull…

He ripped his lips away and turned his back on her. She gave a quiet whimper and he felt her confused emotions. He walked away, feeling stronger than ever, and willed the doors to open.

He left without even looking back.

Tracey watched as the mysterious man walked away without even entering her. She pulled up the collar of her dress and fumbled to right herself. Everything was slightly disorienting and she felt like she had a horrible case of vertigo. Whoever that man had been (well, he wasn't really a man. He had been _more _than a man) had hazed her mind in a way she'd never experienced before.

And she'd let him _bite _her.

She tried to stand up but found that her legs were much too weak. She had to hold onto the bookshelf to stand steady and after giving herself a few seconds to breath, she began her walk towards the front doors. The man had left them open and something told her that she had to walk that way too. She needed to get something… something… she didn't know what.

It was as if her legs knew exactly where to go as she walked through the haunting woods, grabbing a hold of trees to make sure she didn't collapse from exhaustion. The man had done something to her, something horrible. She felt like she as going to die.

Tracey continued to crawl her way through the woods, feeling as though she was close to the main castle again. She nearly wanted to cry at the way her night was going. She'd been minding her own business driving west to visit her mother when she'd realized she was horribly lost and her car was almost out of fuel. Had the old man at the bottom of the hill known about the horrors of the castle? Was it all a bloody trap?

Tracey's thoughts were interrupted as she made her way out of the woods and stared up at the beautiful moonlit castle. If it hadn't been haunted with such terrifying creatures it'd probably be a lovely place to live.

Her stomach hurt. She was so hungry even though she'd eaten a few hours before. It ached as she limped her way across the field. She needed something to eat.

She pulled herself up on a tree and breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath. She felt ill and wanted to lie down, but there was a part of her that knew she couldn't give up. There was still a bit of hope left.

Then a set of headlights lit up in front of her, shocking her back to life.

Danny sat inside the Honda completely alone. Dougie and Tom had left to start putting their plan together, leaving him to sit and wait to see if Harry returned. Danny did _not _expect to see the innocent girl in the pink dress crawl out of the woods looking like she was an inch from death.

He almost got out of the car to go check on her until she finally met his gaze. Something had changed in her honey brown eyes. Something had definitely shifted.

Danny made sure the car doors were locked.

Tracey held eye contact with the man in the car. He'd been the one who'd turned her away. He was the one who'd locked her out in the night. He was the one who'd sealed her fate.

She suddenly felt ten times stronger. It was like life had been poured back into her veins. She smiled as she walked towards the car, feeling like she was stalking her prey.

And she kind of was. Because for some reason, she wanted, no _needed_, to bite him.

Danny nearly choked in horror as Tracey came closer. There was something devilish in her eyes and he had to use all his courage not to scream. There had to be a way out – there had to be an escape.

There was still a bit of fuel left in the car. Could he risk driving? Without waiting an extra second to convince himself otherwise, Danny turned the engine over and floored the gas pedal. Tracey had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Danny drove towards the only place he knew to go. Tom and Dougie were building their trap behind the gardens, so Danny wove in and out of trees and stone structures to find them.

But he wasn't quick enough.

Tracey jumped out of nowhere and landed on the hood of his car. Danny swerved, out of reflex, and ended up slamming on the brakes. His moment of shock was just enough time for Tracey to jump off the hook and nearly rip his door off the hinges, despite the fact that it had been locked.

Danny screamed and tried to fight her off. He saw the puncture marks on her neck and wanted to cry. She was one of them, wasn't she? It was all _real_. There was no denying it now.

Danny tried to remember what Tom had explained to him and Dougie when they were all sitting in the car. To kill… to kill a _vampire_… you had to stab it with something important to you… in the heart…

Danny ripped his cross from around his neck, something he'd worn for years now, and held it tightly in his hand trying not to think about what he had to do. He _had _to… he would die if he didn't…

Tracey was screaming as he tried to fight her off, but he knew he was losing. She was stronger. She needed something only he could provide.

So he closed his eyes, held his cross with the longest point facing out, and forced his hand forward towards her chest.

It surprised him how easily his weapon pierced her skin. He thought it would bounce right off, seeing as she was nearly hard as a rock. But it slid in with barely any effort on his part and she froze with wide, shocked eyes.

No blood spilled out of her. She just stared at Danny in a daze and fell backwards onto the ground, clutching her chest. Danny noticed he was crying. Badly.

After a few seconds he sat up and caught his breath. Tracey was lying still on the ground, her eyes open and staring unseeingly in front of her. Danny reached down and gathered the chain of his cross necklace and slowly pulled it out of her.

It came out black.

Danny closed his door the best he could and started driving again. He couldn't even look back in the rearview mirror to see her. It was just too much.

Tom and Dougie had just finished setting up their circle of lights by the time Danny pulled up to them. He walked to them with a vacant expression and sat down on the grass in the middle of their creation.

"Dan? What happened?" Tom asked as he set down the last of the instruments and went over to his friend. He looked like a dead man walking.

"I had to do it…" Danny spoke monotonously.

"What did you have to do?" Dougie asked, sitting on the grass next to him. The young bassist felt much safer in their circle. Nothing could hurt them there.

"Tracey… she was coming at me…" Danny dropped his necklace onto the ground and heard gasps leave his friends' mouths. They understood.

"Danny, don't worry. You had to do it. We couldn't lose you, too," Tom whispered as he finally sat on the grass, content with his work. They were protected.

"What about Harry? I can't do that to Harry. What if he's one of them now, too?" Danny's eyes were brimming with tears.

"It's real, then? I mean… they're real?" Dougie was whispering.

"We don't know what's happened to Harry, but we'll find him. They took me away but they didn't bite me. Maybe they only go after girls…" Tom tried to sound positive but even _he _doubted his words.

Danny seemed truly troubled to have stabbed the young girl, and Tom tried to imagine having to defend himself against Harry. He couldn't picture it. _Stabbing _his best friend? He'd rather die.

Tom's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crunching noise. The three men looked over their shoulders and gasped as they saw what looked like a flock of deadly birds marching towards them. The seven girls formed a large V as they walked, with Harry dead center and in the lead.

"Harry…" Dougie mumbled, unsure if he was supposed to be excited or terrified.

But Harry's eyes weren't the same. They seemed vacant and expressionless as he and the girls marched across the lawn. Dougie felt no attachment to the man glaring at him. And the thought nearly crushed him.

"He's gone…" Dougie's voice cracked as realization hit him. They'd lost their best friend.

"Oh _Harry_," Tom muttered to himself, rubbing his face. It felt like someone had died.

"I'm not Harry anymore," Harry's voice carried over the vast amount of space between them. "I am Harold – Master of the Vanderbilt Coven."

"No…" Danny breathed, unable to believe the words. This could not be happening. They were all dreaming. They couldn't live without all four of them being there together. They were useless – just like a card deck missing a single card. They were incomplete and futile.

"Yes." The S seemed to hiss as Harry replied, and he and his coven burst into attack.

"Dougie! Lights!" Tom was the first to react as he fumbled with the instruments in front of him. Dougie hesitated, unable to act as the vampires sprinted across the lawn. What if he got Harry?

"Dougie!" Danny yelled as the group came closer.

Dougie grabbed the extension chord, closed his eyes, and flicked the switch.

Harry knew what was coming before it happened. He jumped into the air, flew through the sky, and landed back on his feet in less than a second. Lights were shining all around him but their direct rays missed him as he looked around the inside of the circle. The three men were staring at him in complete horror.

"You just… turning into a bat…" Tom's voice cracked, his eyes wide.

"You haven't seen _anything _yet," Harry smiled wickedly before crouching into an attack position. He could hear the screams of the girls as the UV rays from the stage lights hit them, and he could smell their burning flesh as they crumpled into ashes.

He paid them no attention. They were all expendable.

Harry charged at Danny who was still lying in the grass. The brunette's eyes widened in horror and he rolled out of the way, crashing into one of the large lights Dougie had set up, causing it to swing around. Harry ducked away from the beam just in time.

"Danny!" Tom was shouting and he ran to pick up one of the guitar's he'd placed on the ground. It was now or never…

"Tom! Don't!" Dougie was shouting, feeling torn.

"Yeah Tom… listen to Dougie… don't do what you're thinking… I'm still your Harry, remember? Good Old Harry Judd…" Harry was taunting the boy now. He could see the desperation in the young blonde's face. The small hesitation was all he needed.

Harry ran for Dougie this time. The boy was smaller and faster than Danny, but he seemed to be more emotionally compromised. He would practically give himself over…

Harry neared the bassist with an evil smile on his face. Finally he would have more blood… more of the delicious liquid to drip down his throat…

But right before he reached Dougie he was forced into a stop. Tom had slid out of nowhere in front of the boy and forced the neck of the guitar into Harry's chest. Tom let out a horrified cry as the instrument slid into his friend.

The atmosphere changed in a heartbeat. It went from being scared and fast-paced to being still and emotionless in less than a second. Everything was dead silent as Tom got to his feet, sniffling, and rolled Harry over.

None of the boys spoke as the guitar slid from his chest. There was no blood, but the guitar had turned black just like Danny's cross.

"Oh _god_… Harry…" Dougie wheezed as he looked upon his frozen friend. How had their night gone so wrong? Why did they have to be so cursed? How could they all lose a part of themselves?

The sun was starting to creep over the top of the trees. The remaining limbs of the Vanderbilt Coven girls started to smoke and then crumbled into piles of ash. But none of the McFly boys paid them any attention as they sat around Harry, needing to see him one last time before the sun burnt him away too.

The first ray hit his feet clad only in his converse. They all let out a small whimper, expecting to see his body start to smoke like the rest of the vampires.

But nothing happened.

They watched in complete awe as the sun continued to make it's way up Harry's body, moving from his feet, to his legs, to his arms, to his chest, to his neck and then to his head. He didn't start smoking or turn into ash or anything.

But the gaping hole in his chest where the guitar neck had pierced him began to close. The three boys looked on in complete amazement as it grew smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared.

Everything was silent for a few seconds until Harry gave a weak cough.

"Harry!" Dougie screamed, moving forward to embrace his friend until his senses caught up with him. Dougie drew back instantly; unsure whether or not his friend was actually safe to touch.

"Dougie?" Harry's voice was rough as he peeked one eye open. "Guys?" He noticed Tom and Danny as well.

Tom heaved an enormous sigh of relief. Somehow, miraculously, Harry was back. He didn't know how it happened and he had no idea why, but he couldn't stop the happiness washing through him and the guilt lift off his shoulders. He hadn't killed his best friend. He'd been given another chance.

"I can't believe… I'm so sorry…" Harry coughed out as he began to sit up. He rubbed his chest a little bit as he looked around at his friends. "Are you guys all right?"

"We're fine. We're perfectly, absolutely, amazingly fine," Tom shook his head as he leaned forward and engulfed Harry around the shoulders. Dougie and Danny quickly joined in as well.

"How is this…? How are you not…?" Danny couldn't finish his sentences as he pulled away, looking Harry over to make sure the drummer wouldn't randomly keel over on him. Or randomly start trying to eat him again.

"I have no idea. I just… I'm me again. I'm me." Harry had no other words to describe the situation. He clearly remembered what had happened but he had no idea how he'd gone from… _that_ to human again.

"Did you read anything like this in that book, Tom?" Dougie asked curiously.

"I… I can't remember. I don't think so… well, there was that one line at the end of the How To Kill A Vampire section that had basically faded away… but I couldn't make out what it said…" Tom tried to remember the letters that had been visible.

"I don't care how it happened. I'm just so bloody glad you're alive…" Danny breathed, hugging his mate closer again.

"There… there was another girl… I bit her…" Harry shook his head as the memories flashed through his head. Did that make the girl a vampire? Did they still have to deal with her? Or had something happened? Had she got caught in the sun?

"Wait a minute…" Danny mumbled as he jumped to his feet. "Come on!" He shouted to his friends as he jogged towards the front of the house.

His band mates trailed behind him curiously as he tried to find her body. Maybe if Harry had gotten lucky so had she… Maybe Danny didn't kill her after all…

Danny stopped dead as he rounded the corner of the garden and saw her small form lying limp in the grass. Her back faced him and he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"That's her!" Harry shouted as he, Tom, and Dougie stopped beside Danny. "What are we waiting for?" Harry led the way this time, determined to make sure the young girl was all right. He knelt down in front of her and ran his fingers over her neck. His bite mark was gone but she was still bleeding pretty badly from where one of the girls had slashed her.

"Here, use my jacket," Danny pulled his arms out of his light jacket as they rolled her over and applied pressure to her wound. Danny noted with relief that the small hole in her chest from his cross had disappeared… but she was still completely out of it.

After a few minutes of silently putting pressure on her wound and leaning her head on Harry's lap, her eyes cracked open.

"Water?" She breathed through an extremely cracked throat.

"Yes! We can get you water! Yes!" Danny nearly cried he was so happy. "Just hold on Tracey! We're all going to get out of here…"

The McFly boys and Tracey recuperated and managed to find their way down to the bottom of the hill where they were graciously picked up by a loan pick-up truck. The kind driver brought them back to the town, which was only two or three miles down the road, where they phoned their families and were able to finally get something to eat.

It had been a long, tiring, and undeserved adventure for all of them. They wanted nothing more than to go home, lie in bed and have a nice long sleep.

The little old man sitting alone in his wooden shack was laughing. It was a malicious laugh; one that would send shivers down even the most courageous spine. He laughed at the young traveler's naïveté. He'd watched as they finally escaped the castle. He watched as they were picked up and brought to town. He watched the triumphant smiles on their faces as they cheered their own victory.

They thought their adventure was over. They thought they'd be done with it forever. They'd thought _wrong._

No one ever left Vanderbilt Castle behind. No one was _ever_ able to leave. They always came back. Whether they wanted to or not.

And it would only be a short amount of time before the next lost tourists needed directions.

So the old man laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed…


End file.
